Category: pens we like

it’s here. the Art Snakes, err Art Snacks box for July. just in time for drawing. inside is three pencils, a hated brush pen, and boss sharpener. the pencils are colored. and other pencil is a labeled for “graphic drawing.” oh my. what are we going to draw with that? graphic as in the horror of food eating food. or something more along the lines of [use your imagination here].

the brush pen is Japanese. it has two ends. one has a tiny brush. the other has a normal size brush. we still hate brush pens. but only from lack of experience making them make. the ink is water based. meaning it will run away when water is added. this can make a cool effect. so we’ll draw with it until we hate it less.

the last item in the box is a sharpener. it has a big eraser on it. the orange plastic kind of glows in the sun. making us want to draw outside. okay. doing that soon.

unopened.

inside

a card that offers 15% off an order

ripping it open

colored pencils

the number end of colored pencils so you can reorder the colors you like

my mixed feeling subscription to art stuff is here. the new art snakes, err, Art Snacks arrived. nifty. inside is a tiny sketch book and 6 art makers. a paint pen which instantly reminds me that “all your base are belong to us.” three dual ended pens. one side is a hated brush opposited by a more normal side. not my choice of colors. but it is summer time. meaning somebody had June on their mind when then picked these three. and there are two “chalk” pencils from General’s, a US of A company that has been making pencils for around a 1oo years.

also in the box is a sticker, a round of gum, and a card that describes it all. fun.

fountain pens are weird. there was a time when this was the only kind of pen there was. it made for the stuff of jokes. and it spawned the pocket protector. both problems (is a joke a problem?) were fueled by the fact that these pens leaked. and why ball point pens took their place in the day to day. there is lots of like about drawing with a NiB instead of a ball. one of those is the before mentioned leaky ability.

this pen comes in BLACK or CLEAR. it costs about $6.

one thing to LOVE about NiB pens is that you can fill them with different colors of ink. because the Pilot uses a standard cartridge you have your choice of thousands of different colors, shades, and properties. you do not have to settle for Black Hole Black or Ordinary Blue.

JiNK (aka June + Ink) is a Beatles week away. get an ArtSnakes box. order one today so you get it in time for JiNK the 1st. ArtSnakes also has the Inktober box in stock. although it is kind of a lot more money. so use a quarter of that budget to by a one month subscription.

arts snakes. err, Art Snacks. the logo of a twisted pencil reminds me of a snake.

this is a monthly surprise of drawing stuff. inside what should become a repurposed pencil box are tools to make art. and I am mixed about whether I like this service or not. certainly I could use the cost of the box on funding my own fancy of pens, pencils, paint, or brushes. I like the idea of walking into an art store with the idea of spending $25 with abandon. but do I do this? nope. this makes reckless in a box curated by the equivalent of a DJ the next best thing.

four pens in one. red, black, blue, and green. this was the pen to have in 4th grade. not that 9 year olds need a four color pen. but it was the talk of the classroom until it was stolen. “hey, where is MY pen??!” I figured that my teacher took it for herself when all of us were at recess. not that she would so dumb as use it in the classroom. this would give her away instead of the girl we all suspected. but FOUR colors would make a handy thing to have when grading tests. you would not always have to write in soul crushing red. writing “GOOD!” in green would be so much happier. I never did see green ink on a test to prove my idea of who took it. I know she took it.

aside from the availability of four different colors at a spin and a click this pen also has another valuable feature. click to out a color. press half way on another color to release. repeat. see? it has a high fidget factor! it also aids in writing a word alternating each letter in a different color without making yourself mad. take the top off and you can draw (or write) in all four colors at the same time. this pen will enthrall your inner 9 year old for days.

the Bic Four Color comes in business colors (RED, BLUE BLACK and GREEN) and in fun colors (pink, purple, green and light blue). both versions have a handy hole on the top so you can tie it securely to your desk or notebook to keep it out of the hands of that thieving teacher.

I was about to board a cruise ship for 10 days of exploration. for some odd reason there was a metal detector and agents eying all the passengers about to set sail. as usual I was singled out for a better inspection. I’d had left my weapons at home. you cannot travel with a multitool, screw driver, or a useful blade anymore. my bag was full of cameras and other tech. but what got the guards attention was my pens. these got all kinds of scrutiny. and I was asked, “these are pens?” “yes. I will demonstrate.” so I drew with each one. finally I offered the pen to her. and she drew a line. satisfied that the Staedler set was really what they appeared to be I was free to get on the ship.

oh those Germans. leave it to them to make a pen in unremarkable Gray with Black accents. the fine liners come in a handy case to keep in things in order. you have to like that. none of this clutter about the desk looking for the 2 amounts all the pencils. it will be right there. in the order you put them. like in order from little to big. or big to little. maybe you will put the most used on the ends forcing the fatty into the middle. it really is up to you on the correct order of pen.

“wait, boss, WAIT!” but it was too late. the boss had written on the white board with a Sharpie®. and now, “MAKE YOUR DAMN NUMBERS!” was permanent forever. this is what you want sometimes. but do not leave one around for the daft or too busy to pay attention person in charge.

it used to be that Sharpie came only in black. there was FAT version and not so. today it comes colors, extra wide, really fine, and lots of between.

you can get almost 1oo pens for $15. not that you need that many pens. but the BiC Round Stic is a nice pen. we think that the flexible barrel is a nice upgrade from the rigid six sided Cristal. it is a little bigger and it has good feel to it. uncapped, it will roll off the desk if you have an uneven surface. which could be the stuff of comedy. at least you will know that gravity, not elves took your pen.

you want ALL the colors. and you want tiny line and fat wide. enter the fill pen. these markers are a little different. the ink is alcohol based which makes filling even. and if you wait for the evaporation to happen you can fill in again to achieve a slightly darker version of the same color. fill pens come in hundreds of colors, shades of grey, or another hue. there may be a better brand. but we are sure there is personal preference playing a big part. the pens are not cheap. but last year I bought a collection of used markers for $25. there were 53 in the set.

another pen that has been around forever. the Pilot Precise comes in different sizes and all the colors you might want to be precise with. unlike some of the other pens that we like these pens are losable cheap. you can get a dozen of them for about a buck a piece. and the fact that it comes in purple and green will bring joy to the person who likes to heart their eyes and swoop the teas. there are just two sizes of Precise: V5 and V7. and depending on the task you will either love it or hate it.

referred to as Sakura. or Pigma. and sometimes Micron. none of these are wrong considering it has like three names. nobody is going to bash out all three when talking about a pen.

is Pigma boring because the barrel is clad in beige? we think the point is the ink it uses not that the barrel is supposed to inspire something. it does have a nice black end that holds the cap in place. and there is a clip that really does on that cap. you could make somebody mad by changing the cap with all other pen caps. you know to mix up the 3 as an 8 etc. but the number is on the barrel. which makes the potential of the joke less funny. I guess you could make lens and short by width to get what is what back to normal. good luck. oh yeah, these are pretty good considering you get the whole set for 1o bucks. and you can get them in colors.

remember when this was a new pen? it came in black and blue. was red about the same time? I don’t know. the thing about the Flair is that it has a mushy tip that does not seem to wear down as you fill in giant spaces. and it is cheap. less than a buck a pen. today Flair comes in all the colors.

what I really need is an ink that does not move after it is dry. it needs to be acid free. and come in all the sizes from tiny to fat. these pens are all that. except they use a letter to indicate size. why is M bigger than F when F could mean Fat and M could means More. S comes later in the alphabet but in this case it means Small. and XS does not mean EXCESS. it means Extra Small. speaking of small, who wants to get SMALL? if you get Pitt pens you will need to get used to the letters. BTW, how do you say Extra Small in Starbucks?

maybe the Bic Cristal is the better pen compared the Round Stic? maybe. it comes in colors besides Blue, Black and horrifying Red. Purple, Pink, Green and Light Blue are at you calling for drawing smogberry plants. the Cristal has a wonderful history. the pen changed writing by displacing the fountain pen. it was a cheaper, less messy, and potentially longer lasting writing device. and it did not require the writer to mess with ink. you just used it until it was done or lost then you got another pen. the barrel is shaped like a pencil. meaning it will not roll away. and it feels familiar when you are writing making a transition to pen that much easier. 5o years ago the Cristal sold for just .29 cents. which is about the same price they sell for today. while there are better pens available you cannot go wrong with the Cristal for writing whatever on whatever.